(Montreal) Thousands of people will walk across Quebec this weekend during La Grande marche, organized by the Grand Défi Pierre Lavoie team and the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec. The event aims to be inclusive, while promoting physical activity.
More than a hundred marches are taking place until Sunday in different municipalities in the province. The events kicked off Friday evening in Saguenay, and Saturday morning, 5,000 people are expected at La Grande marche de Québec. The same number of walkers is expected on Sunday around 9 a.m. at Place des Festivals in Montreal.
Unlike the Grand Défi, launched 15 years ago, which requires covering hundreds of kilometers by bike, the walk is intended to be an accessible and inclusive event. “When we offer walking, it is much more acceptable and achievable for the vast majority of people, which is why walking is very important to us,” says Pierre Lavoie, in an interview.
For the man who is also behind the energy cubes initiative, which invites primary school children to move more, it is necessary to continue to democratize physical activity.
The vast majority of people don’t like doing sports. But, physical activity reaches them a little more. We must now democratize, change the words, change the ways of doing things. We offer achievable five kilometers, without stopwatches, so the vast majority of people can do it, and we bring fun.
Pierre Lavoie
According to him, it is important that the population takes individual responsibility for physical activity, in order to prevent health problems, rather than having to cure them in the future.
“The person must consider their health as not acquired, and must always maintain it, throughout their life, like a car. The car, the luck we have, is that we can change it. But you don’t change a body, you have it for life,” he says.
This preventive approach also involves the collaboration of the Grand Défi with the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec, whose members have prescribed physical activity to their patients ahead of the Grande Marche.
“These are people of influence, who are doctors, who agree to take the preventive turn, who will prescribe physical activity or walking to their patient, and arrange to meet them at an event [planifié] in their calendar,” explains Mr. Lavoie.
The organization expects to exceed the number of 100,000 walkers who will take part in Grandes Marches across the province this weekend. While promoting healthy lifestyle habits, the events are intended to be festive, while shows will be presented during certain marches.
“In changing behaviors, if you don’t have fun, you’re not going to repeat it. It’s important to bring pleasure into our lifestyle changes,” says Mr. Lavoie.